Author's Note: The following article was written two months prior to the now infamous Los Angeles Riots.

Sociologist Herbert Spencer believed that civilizations could be adequately compared to biological organisms; both roughly follow the same pattern of evolution and growth. A living organism begins as a small collection of atoms and molecules and then has the potential of developing into something as simple as a flower or as complex as a human being.

Civilization, too, begins life as a relatively small collection of people, for instance-a tribe and can further develop into something as utterly complex as a nation. But, with creation and development, must come destruction and ruin. As biological organisms live through a cycle of birth, growth and the gradual disintegration into death, so does this hold true for civilizations. What was, at one time, an aggregate of people working towards similar goals and dreams, becomes, with age, a dislocated entity without cohesion or centralization. This is a natural occurrence. As the once radiant, colorful flower must eventually dull, wilt and blow away, so must all civilizations fall.

The Ouroboros serpent eating its own tail is the perfect symbolic representation of this universal, evolutionary cycle. A gradual building up of complexity is later met with an equal tearing back down into primal simplicity. Today, in our own country, we bare witness to this demolition. It appears that centralized law and government is falling away, society is dissolving into more and more separate groups, tribes, if you will. Increasing violence: gang wars, race riots, domestic violence are all sure signs of society's collapse. There are so many sub-cultures and special interests thriving today, no real cohesion can be found. The one thread that appears to offer the tiniest illusion of a conjoined community is the economy. As long as the people still possess their jobs, from the garbage collector to the policeman, the bare bones of our society will still be intact.

But how long, one may ask, will this last? Economists have been warning us for years that we are on the brink of economic collapse; homelessness and joblessness are on the rise and one does not need to read the newspapers to become aware of this; one need only step outside. With age, comes decay; today we are witnessing our society's descent into senility.

So what, pray tell, will happen to our society? I believe we are entering an age of barbarism the likes of which this country has not seen since the days of the Old West. Once the economy goes, so go the last vestiges of superficial cooperation; looting and street fighting will begin, people will separate into antagonistic groups fighting for territory, food and fuel. We will see an age of brutal social Darwinism return, primal instincts will, again, take over, and the niceties of our once great, civilized society will be crushed by the urgent necessity for individual survival.

It may not be pretty, but this ugly scene spread out before you, is more or less, integral at the root of all civilizations. This simple brutality is the ground work for a more complex and peaceful social organization, yet, with the inevitable law of cyclic return, this primal brutality must always rear its head again and again.

In comparison to today's complexity and confusion, a return to primitive and tribal situations might give people's lives more identity and purpose. It may be easier to find one's place in a simple community of this sort; perhaps natural ecological and social balance would return. If this planet can withstand a few hundred more years of the human race abusing its resources, poisoning its air and water, and raping its land, then perhaps, one day, we will see the dawn of a new and better society; a society based on respect for nature and an understanding of its laws.

If the planet cannot withstand the violation by this parasite called man, then our doom is inevitable, and I say: open the gates of hell and revel in the bestial fury of this natural, cyclic destruction! Our planet will eventually die, as will we all individually; but, in the scheme of things, the human race is only a grain of salt in a vast, incomprehensible ocean.